Soul-Centered Success: Change Your Mindset, Change Your Life
Nothing will influence your happiness, relationships, energy, success, and overall life satisfaction more than your mindset. Your mindset is your operating system for your life. It influences every part of your day, including what you focus on and how you
New Research: How Stress Affects Inflammation, Neurodegeneration, the Gut Microbiome, Cancer Treatment and Relationships
Stress is a particular passion of mine. I love learning how to reduce negative stress, and I’m fascinated by the ways stress affects our health. We do not know everything there is to know about stress. In the grand scheme
Yoga and Pregnancy: 6 Tips for Postpartum Care
Pregnancy and birth are major events for your body. This alone heightens your risk of pelvic floor dysfunction. We still must take the time to lay the foundation of function, strength, and strategy. Pregnancy and the Pelvic Floor Here are
Experts Agree. Yoga Is Great for Your Brain: A Review of the Scientific Evidence
Although we’ve long known that cardiovascular exercise improves brain health and stimulates the growth of new neurons, we’ve known less about how yoga affects the brain. Now, a review of the research suggests that yoga may enhance many of the
Cultivate Contentment this Holiday: How to Practice Gratitude
When I was a child, Christmas morning was a well-orchestrated event. My parents loved to surprise us with special, unexpected gifts we hadn't asked for and loved to set a cozy and festive stage for the ultimate event, the opening
Navasana: 3 Yoga Variations for Practicing Boat Pose
We’ve all heard that strong abdominal muscles support a healthy lower back and that yoga poses build “core” strength. But, although Navasana (Boat Pose) is categorized as an abdominal pose, like all yoga asanas, on a purely physical level, Navasana
Yoga Therapy: Relief from Symptoms of Parkinson’s Disease
Parkinson's disease is an age-associated, progressive neurological disorder that affects movement. It all starts with resting tremors progressing to a noticeable tremor to full-blown tremors, joint stiffness, and slowing of movement. As the condition progresses, the individual’s face may show
Less But Better: Streamline Your Yoga Classes
I’ve been reading an interesting book called Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less by Greg McKeown (1). I connect to the main point of the book, which is the idea that we need to strive for “less but better.” This
Holiday Stress? 5 Yoga Tips for Keeping Your Presence During the Season Of Presents
It’s the holiday season again. If you practice a specific religion, there is a holiday for you now. If you don’t practice a particular religion, you likely will still be bombarded with holiday advertisements, holiday parties, and the stress of
Yoga for Tight Shoulders—With an Imaginary Sticky Mat
One of the conundrums we face as beginning yoga students is that we can’t know what a pose is supposed to feel like until we’re doing it. But if you start with the standard-issue collapsed chest and tight shoulders of
Glute Amnesia: Yoga for Your Forgotten Rear
Are you forgetting about your backside? If you spend most of your day sitting, there’s a good chance that you are suffering from glute amnesia. The more you sit, the more you “forget” how to use your glutes! The
Arjuna is Us: The Yoga of Social Activism
“Of the numerous Sanskrit works on Yoga, two scriptures have become favorites of dedicated students of Yoga—the Yoga-Sutra, attributed to Patanjali and the Bhagavad-Gita ascribed to Vyasa. These can be considered foundational Yoga texts. While the former work addresses ascetics
Exercise and Longevity: Diversify Your Yoga Practice for Maximum Benefits
In asana (posture) practice, we aim for that “sweet spot”—notable physical sensation, but that which causes no harm. This lets us know that we’re opening up muscles and fascia in the body, but not straining joints or tearing muscles. Many
Yoga Anatomy: The Adductor Muscles in Downward Facing Dog Pose
In our blog post, "Strong Thigh Muscles Benefit People with Knee Osteoarthritis,” we gave a tip for activating the tensor fascia lata in Adho Mukha Svanasana (Downward Facing Dog Pose). This synergizes the quadriceps for extending the knees, aids in flexing